Justin Trudeau

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is extremely important that, as a Parliament, as parliamentary committees, as a government and as Canadians, we look into the issue of foreign interference. That is why, at parliamentary committee, the ministers of democratic institutions and foreign affairs are scheduled to appear tomorrow. PROC has heard from Elections Canada, the director of CSIS, the chief of the CSE, the deputy commissioner of the RCMP, the deputy minister of foreign affairs and the deputy minister of international trade.

To quote the member for Carleton, “for hundreds of years, the principle of ministerial accountability has been paramount here in the House and in its committees.” We agree.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I have addressed a number of questions along the lines of national security. I want to point out another issue that I know is preoccupying for Canadians.

Just recently, Conservative Party MPs knowingly dined with a far-right German politician. Christine Anderson and her party's far-right, xenophobic, anti-science, pro-Putin views are well known. The member's carefully crafted condemnation that neither he nor his MPs will repeat publicly will not cut it. It is time he gave Canadians real answers and apologize.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I find my hon. colleague's comments to be rather disturbing, suggesting that experts may not be as well suited to protect our democracy as the opposition parties.

We are not claiming that one party is better suited than the others for protecting the integrity of our institutions and our elections. That is precisely why Canadians want us to rely on non-partisan experts to make recommendations and to ensure that everything is being done to ensure that they can have confidence in our processes.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am waiting for the independent special rapporteur—meaning the independent expert who will be responsible for investigating the mechanisms in place free of any partisan politics—to do their work. The rapporteur will determine whether we need more mechanisms, not only to ensure that the government can do its utmost to protect our democracy and our institutions, but also so that Canadians can have confidence that everything is being done to protect our democracy, our elections and our institutions.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we have created formal processes where parliamentarians from all parties, including from the member's own party, can get top secret clearances to look into matters impacting national security and the safety of Canadians without putting at risk the women and men who serve in our intelligence communities here in Canada and around the world so they are able to continue to do their jobs of keeping Canadians safe. I know that no one in this House wants to put anyone who serves this country at risk.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, issues around national security have deep implications for the safety and well-being of Canadians and those who serve to keep Canadians safe, sometimes in extraordinarily dangerous positions here and around the world. That is why we have created bodies that allow parliamentarians to get top secret clearance so they can look directly at everything that is done without putting at risk the brave women and men who serve this country to keep all Canadians safe.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we well know that issues of national security can be highly challenging to discuss as parliamentarians on the open floor of the House of Commons. That is why, over the objections of the former minister in the Harper government that objected to the creation of a national security and intelligence oversight committee, who is now the leader of the opposition, we went ahead and created a body that allows members of Parliament to get cleared to top secret levels so they can look into this question and all questions in a way that does not compromise national security.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will know that issues of national security and foreign interference can often be highly sensitive, which is why we have created bodies like NSICOP and NSIRA and other mechanisms to oversee the important and top secret work that our intelligence agencies. We need to make sure they are doing everything necessary to protect Canadians and make sure that governments are held accountable for acting on information that they could have received from our intelligence agencies. These are processes we have put in place since 2015 that we will continue to work with.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as all members in this House well know, our intelligence agencies and officials work very hard every single day to keep Canadians, including Canadians of all different backgrounds and including all parliamentarians, safe from the impacts of foreign interference. Their work is carefully scrutinized by a number of oversight bodies, including NSIRA and NSICOP, that allow parliamentarians and experts to ensure that CSIS and other intelligence agencies are doing everything necessary to keep Canadians and our institutions safe.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians well know that issues around national security are extremely important to deal with, including by elected officials and parliamentarians. This was a point of significant disagreement between the previous Harper government and our party in opposition, which is why we committed to creating the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, where parliamentarians from all parties receive top secret clearances and are allowed to dig into everything national security agencies are doing. That is exactly what we have allowed for.